Brian DeanvsJoost de Valk

Brian Dean
Founder of Backlinko
Zenith Score
94
World Rank
#4

Joost de Valk
Founder of Yoast
Zenith Score
89
World Rank
#15
Change comparison
Verdict
Winner
Brian Dean
94
+5 points ahead
Runner-up
Joost de Valk
89
Category Winners
Visibility
Brian
96 vs 92
Authority
Brian
95 vs 94
Trust
Brian
93 vs 90
Innovation
Brian
92 vs 85
Brian Dean wins in 4 categories, while Joost de Valk leads in 0 categories.
Expert Analysis
Brian Dean established himself through educational content and the Skyscraper Technique, building Backlinko into a go-to resource for link building strategies. His focus remains on content marketing and off-page SEO tactics. Joost de Valk democratized SEO through Yoast SEO plugin, making on-page optimization accessible to millions of WordPress users. His contributions to WordPress Core and open-source philosophy have shaped how most websites approach basic SEO. Brian Dean s'est etabli via le contenu educatif et la Technique Skyscraper, construisant Backlinko en ressource de reference pour les strategies de link building. Son focus reste sur le marketing de contenu et les tactiques SEO off-page. Joost de Valk a democratise le SEO via le plugin Yoast SEO, rendant l'optimisation on-page accessible a des millions d'utilisateurs WordPress. Ses contributions au Core WordPress et sa philosophie open-source ont faconne l'approche SEO basique de la plupart des sites.
"Dean for off-page SEO and link building expertise; de Valk for WordPress optimization and accessible on-page tools."
You want to master link building and content promotion beyond basic on-page optimization.
You use WordPress and want reliable on-page SEO tools with a strong plugin ecosystem.
Score Comparison
Detailed Comparison
| Metric | Brian Dean | Joost de Valk |
|---|---|---|
| Zenith Score Breakdown | ||
| Zenith Score | 94+5 | 89-5 |
| World Rank | #4 | #15 |
| Visibility | 96+4 | 92-4 |
| Authority | 95+1 | 94-1 |
| Trust | 93+3 | 90-3 |
| Innovation | 92+7 | 85-7 |
| Profile Details | ||
| Job Title | Founder of Backlinko | Founder of Yoast |
| Location | Austin, United States | Wijchen, Netherlands |
| Years Experience | 14-6 | 20+6 |
| Agency | Backlinko (Semrush) | Yoast / Emilia Capital |
| Specialties | Link Building, Content Marketing, On-Page SEO | WordPress SEO, Technical SEO, Open Source SEO |
| Certifications | 0= | 0= |